


But You're A King (And I'm Your Lionheart)

by DarthAbby



Category: Ultimate Spider-Man (Cartoon)
Genre: Empire State Building - Freeform, First Kiss, M/M, Peter's Massive Guilt Over Everything Ever, Teen Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-29
Updated: 2017-11-29
Packaged: 2019-02-08 09:53:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,729
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12862041
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarthAbby/pseuds/DarthAbby
Summary: Set after s2, before s3The thing is, Peter doesn't like losing people in any capacity, and Danny is on a very clear time limit.





	But You're A King (And I'm Your Lionheart)

**Author's Note:**

> I have no idea if this fandom is still active, let alone this corner (most of the SpiderFist fics I've seen are several years old at this point) but I needed fluff so I wrote myself some fluff. Enjoy.
> 
> Shamelessly inspired by, and title taken from, 'King and Lionheart' by Of Monsters and Men

Peter was used to running solo – that was how he got started in the hero business, and how he still met most of the villains of the week. He’d occasionally run into others while out on patrol; Iron Man, the Human Torch, and Falcon made the most appearances. The Thing and Hulk had a weekly bowling match. A guy who called himself Daredevil and spent more time in dumpsters than out of them could be found roaming around Hell’s Kitchen, and Hawkeye (both of them – he was still getting used to that idea) covered the Bed-Stuy area pretty thoroughly. Of his own team, Nova was the most likely to be found zooming around on his own. The teens mostly kept to the Tricarrier when they weren’t in school or on a mission.

Which is why Peter was so surprised to see a familiar figure clad in green sitting on a rooftop in the middle of the night, backlit by the streetlights below.

“Iron Fist?” he asked, swinging over to land next to his teammate. “What are you doing out so late? Don’t you have a Fury-enforced bedtime or something?”

“Hello, Spider-Man.” The reply was calm, as usual. Danny turned slightly to give Peter a serene smile. “No. As long as I am not late to training or class, Fury does not mind what I do in my free time.”

“Oh. That’s… nice?”

“It is a welcome freedom,” Danny nodded, looking back out over the city. “To be able to go where I please, when I am pleased to do it.”

Peter remained silent, letting one of his legs dangle over the side of the building. He’d nearly forgotten, which hurt almost as much as _what_ he’d almost forgotten.

One year. Danny was on a time limit – he was going back to K’un L’un a year to the day after they had worked together to defeat Scorpion and win the crown. One year of freedom, and then Danny would be chained to the throne.

Less then that, now. Their little field trip had been nearly two months ago; Peter was facing only ten until he’d lose Danny forever.

No wonder he was craving some unsupervised jaunts, especially after the mess just a week ago with the Goblin.

Peter still didn’t want to think about that, about his teammates, his _friends_ , turned into rage-driven minions that had done their best to take him down.

He shook away the images that still haunted his sleep, and would, he had no doubt, for a long time to come. “Wanna patrol with me?”

“Where to?” Danny asked, looking over to give him another soft smile, and Peter felt warmth bloom in his chest, chasing away the cold memories.

And that was, in truth, the root of the problem. Somewhere along the way, Peter had fallen _hard_ for the easy-going hero. He couldn’t pinpoint when it had happened, he wasn’t sure if it was even an exact thing. All he knew was that on their return trip from K’un L’un, Danny had given him one of those soft smiles and thanked him again for his help, and Peter had realized he was well and truly screwed (not in the good way, either).

He pulled himself back to the present moment. “The view from the Empire State Building is pretty good. Can watch for trouble from every corner of the city.”

Danny stood with a quiet laugh. “Empire State it is. After you.”

They made their way across the city, Danny exercising his agility as he ran and leapt across rooftops to keep up with Peter’s web-slinging. When they reached their destination, Danny waited on the neighboring roof for him.

Peter landed lightly next to his friend. “Ready?”

“Of course.”

“Hold on.”

Danny draped his arms securely, one over and one under Peter’s shoulders like a messenger bag, and held onto his own wrists. “Not too tightly, don’t worry.”

“R-right,” Peter said. _I didn’t think this through._ “On three. One, two, three!”

They jumped together, suspended in the air for a breathless moment before Peter’s web caught and he swung them over to the side of the Empire State. Danny was a solid warmth at his back – heavy enough to notice and adjust for, but his position made it easy for Peter to use his abilities to scale the side of the building. As promised, Danny didn’t hold too tightly, careful not to choke Peter.

It was a little difficult to breathe anyways, feeling the length of Danny’s body pressed against his own as he moved. _Focus, Parker._

The floors passed quickly, and soon they made it to the first ledge. Danny let go of Peter once his feet were on solid ground, and Peter tried not to let that disappoint him. The lights around the edge were blazing, nearly blinding from this close, and both backed away in silent agreement. They leaned against the outer wall, taking a short break.

“It is quite a view,” Danny murmured at last.

“Yeah,” Peter agreed, looking out over the lights of the city he loved (even if it seemed to rarely return the sentiment). “And this isn’t even the top.”

“I’m looking forward to that. I’ve heard it’s amazing.”

“Yeah, it – wait, what?” he turned to face Danny fully. “You’ve never been to the top of the Empire State building before?”

He shook his head. “I just never… had the opportunity.”

“Well, opportunity is beating down the door right now, my friend,” Peter said, grinning underneath the mask. He’d always wanted to take a newbie to the top of the building – there was a picture somewhere in one of Aunt May’s albums of the first time she and Uncle Ben had taken him to the top, and the look of awe on his young face as he peered out over the city was, even to his own eyes, something special. He wanted to see that look on someone else’s face.

He wanted to see that look on Danny’s face.

“Come on,” he said, turning to face the wall. “It’s only another 30-ish floors.”

Danny didn’t respond, but his arms wrapped around Peter’s torso again, and they were climbing again before he could think too much about how _that_ felt.

The combination of it being close to one in the morning, and a Thursday morning at that, meant that, even though the building was still open, it was pretty quiet. The main viewing deck had only a few yawning tourists milling around, and most of those were preoccupied with the view. One couple snapped a picture of the heroes as they reached the deck, but thankfully kept their distance.

“Wow,” Danny breathed, and Peter looked over to him.

The city was spread out beneath them, a grid of streets glowing orange, and the random pinpricks of light from windows. Cars moved along the streets, and from their corner they could see both the Baxter Building and Stark Tower shining triumphantly in the night; new-age sentinels against the ancient trouble of those who wished harm on innocents.

As for Danny… his lips were turned up in a small, pleased smile, but the mask obscured his eyes and Peter felt a brief surge of irrational hatred for the cloth. He wanted to see the look in Danny’s eyes, but that would never happen here, with civilians around.

He looked upward and smiled to himself. There were certainly no civilians on the spire.

“Hey,” he said, nudging Danny’s shoulder. When he looked away from the impressive view, Peter thumbed upwards. “Best view is up there.”

He hoped so, anyways. It seemed logical, though.

Danny huffed a quiet laugh, but nodded and gestured for Peter to lead the way. He swung up to the maintenance platform, safely above any curious eyes and shrouded in darkness, and sat down on the grating, watching as Danny climbed up under his own power.

He was absolutely not staring as the muscles shifted under the skintight green costume his friend wore. Nope, not Peter Parker, the amazing Spider-Man. Not. At. All.

Danny reached him before that train of thought (or denial) could continue, sitting next to Peter and looking out over the twinkling lights of New York.

“Beautiful,” he murmured.

In lieu of a response, Peter reached up and pulled his mask off, running a hand through his hair and enjoying the stiff breeze against his cheeks. Not that he’d ever admit it, but the suit got a bit stuffy sometimes. It was nice to unmask.

“I love it up here,” he said. “Feels like we’re the only people in the world.”

Danny nodded slightly, looking over. Seeing Peter’s face, he reached up and pulled off his own mask, green eyes catching the light from below and shining like gold. “Like looking out over the cosmos,” he added.

“Yeah,” Peter said, a bit blankly as he looked at Danny. Call him a clichéd romantic, but in the moment it felt more like it was Danny who was the reflection of the stars, not the glittering lights below.

It took a slightly embarrassing amount of time to realize that instead of enjoying the view, Danny was staring back at him. Peter blinked at him, and a tiny frown appeared on Danny’s face.

“What’s wrong?” he asked quietly.

“Wrong?” Peter repeated. “Nothing’s wrong. Why would anything be wrong?”

“You’ve been rather… subdued over the past week,” Danny said carefully. “Distant. What’s wrong? Are you mad at someone on the team? At me?”

“What? No – _no_ ,” he said forcefully. “I could never – no, definitely not.” He shook his head, finally breaking away from Danny’s gaze to look over the city again. “I’m not mad at anyone.” _Well, a little upset with the Elder Monk and his crew, but I can’t tell you that._

“Worried, then? Guilty about something you shouldn’t be?” Danny knew him far too well. Peter pulled his legs up, resting his chin on his knees.

“It’s fine,” he sighed.

“I won’t push if you don’t want me to,” Danny said diplomatically. “But it really does help to talk things out, you know. I’m your friend, Spider-Man. And I’m a good listener.”

Peter worried his lip between his teeth. It would be nice to have a real confidante – it wasn’t like he could go to Aunt May or MJ or Harry with his troubles, his _real_ troubles, these days.

He kind of missed being able to tell someone about his nightmares. MJ still texted him occasionally when she had a particularly bad dream, a habit left over from childhood, but how could he possibly begin to explain why all of his nightmares (straight up night _terrors_ sometimes) now involved super villains killing superheroes and laughing in his face about it?

He’d defeated the actual Nightmare, but that didn’t mean his own subconscious was so easily tamed.

“It’s just some… bad dreams,” he said slowly, not looking at Danny.

“Our worst enemy is sometimes ourselves,” he returned. “What are the dreams about?”

“Recently?” Peter sighed. “You and the team being goblin-ized again, and I can’t save you.”

He hated it – the images of his team, green-skinned and knobbly and driven by rage and yet still _themselves_ , still able to speak intelligently, able to tear him down with remarks about his past failures that still weighed heavily on his mind. The fear that they could return to that state, _permanently_ … it consumed him when he lay in the quiet darkness of his room.

Warmth suddenly radiated out of his shoulder. Danny had reached over to lay a comforting hand on him. “We’re okay,” he assured gently. “You saved us, and I’m confident that you’ll do it again if the need arises. Look at me.”

Peter slowly turned his head to look at his friend, who gave him one of those meltingly soft smiles. “I’m right here, Peter,” he said. “I’m me, I’m human, and I know that I will remain human as long as you’re around.”

“But I won’t be,” he whispered, the words tumbling out of their own accord. “Not forever. You’re going to leave.”

Danny’s smile fell and he scooted closer, pressing his side up against Peter’s. “Not yet.”

“Soon, though.” He leaned into the warmth, stabilizing himself against the other hero. “I don’t want to lose you, in any way.”

Danny sighed, settling an arm around Peter’s shoulders protectively. “I don’t want to lose you, either.” He shook his head. “I’m destined to be king of K’un L’un, I know it is my path and that I need to follow it, but that does not mean that, right now, I am particularly happy about it. I like being here, being part of a team – _your_ team.”

The emphasis on ‘your’ was threatening to do all sorts of things for Peter that weren’t good while wearing a skintight suit, so he did what he was best at and deflected. “Who names a teenager king of a small country, anyways?” he grumbled. “Seems hasty to me.”

Danny laughed softly. “True, but they’ve been waiting long enough.”

“Then what harm could a few more years do?” he asked, well aware that he sounded like a petulant child but not really caring at the moment. “We need you here, on the team, with your friends. Saving New York and sometimes the world.”

“I accidently summoned a Frost Giant in the middle of the Natural History museum,” he pointed out dryly.

“And I accidently got Coulson and half of the science fair eaten by an android,” he returned swiftly. “It happens.”

Danny laughed again, louder this time, and Peter couldn’t help but join in. It really was ridiculous when put that way.

As their laughter dwindled, Peter cautiously leaned further into Danny’s warmth, resting his head on the green-clad shoulder that had been tempting him since Danny had first moved closer. The hand resting on his far arm squeezed briefly, but neither said anything, so Peter took it as permission to stay where he was.

“Hey, Danny?” he finally asked, breaking the comfortable silence that had settled over them.

“Hm?”

“Are visitors allowed to stay in K’un L’un if they’re royally approved?”

He felt Danny tip his head to the side, letting his cheek rest against the crown of Peter’s head, and was thankful that from this position, Danny couldn’t see the blush rising on his face. “If they aren’t, I’ll see to it that such a thing _is_ allowed.”

“Good,” he whispered. “You can’t escape me that easily.”

“I wouldn’t dream of it.”

After another moment of quiet, Peter carefully slid his hand up to hold the one Danny had resting loosely on his arm. Instead of pushing him off, as he had been half-expecting, Danny spread his fingers to better interlace with Peter’s.

He felt Danny’s head turn slightly, nose pressing into the dark locks. “Peter?”

“Yeah?”

“This isn’t a good idea.”

“Yeah.”

“We should stop.”

“Probably.”

Neither moved away, though. Peter lifted his head a bit, meeting Danny’s eyes again. In direct contrast to his words, the look in Danny’s eyes spoke only of a need to stay on the cold little platform forever, just the two of them, alone above the world. The sentiment, Peter was sure, was echoed in his own eyes.

“Very bad idea,” Danny whispered, breath ghosting across Peter’s face.

“The worst,” he agreed.

It wasn’t clear who moved first – perhaps it was both of them at the same time. In any case, Danny’s mouth was on his, and Peter’s brain promptly went offline.

At some point, his hands ended up in Danny’s hair, alternating between combing through gently and gripping tightly. Danny’s hands had ended up wrapped around Peter, one splayed possessively between his shoulder blades and the other running up and down his spine.

“Don’t go,” Peter gasped when they broke for air. “Please.”

“Not tonight,” Danny assured him, drawing them as close together as physically possible. “Not tonight.”

As their lips met again, Peter had a brief thought of if there was an official title for the boyfriend of the king of K’un L’un. He’d make a pretty good prince-consort, if he did say so himself.

But that was a bridge to cross later. For now, for tonight, they could just be two teenagers making out at the top of the Empire State building.

And, really, that was the most important thing.


End file.
